November 16 - “And finally … Sunday”

I had a great start to Sunday morning.  I was sitting quietly on the couch with Luke.  No, really.  We were both quiet.  Out of the blue he turned to me and said, “DadDad, I saw you on Mommy’s phone.”  Instantly intrigued, I had to follow this one, although I had no idea where it would take us.  “What did you see?” I followed up with.  He looked up at me with a Vaughan-ish twinkle in his eye and said, “You did this.”  And then he started kicking his feet and flopping his right hand up and down across his left wrist, all the while making a weird trilling noise with his mouth.  It looked and sounded eerily familiar.  What could Christi possibly have on her phone that would create such an impression … and of me?  And then it hit me.  He had seen the FaceBook post of my ukulele recital performance.  It apparently made an impression on someone after all.  I wish I had a video of the Luke-style rendition of the DadDad uke extravaganza.  Believe me, it was one for the ages.

We finally left for church.  Upon arrival Christi assured me that there would be donuts available for public consumption, so we headed in the direction she pointed out.  No donuts.  There was a coffee pot, though, so I took advantage of that one.  We continued our trek, past the Sunday School class she recommended.  No donuts.  On around another corner.  My nose was picking up a scent by this time.  It wasn’t donuts, but it was most assuredly food.  Pancakes to be exact.  As the hallway reached a dead end, we found ourselves at the college classroom.  Mixed in with the youngsters, though were quite a few old-timers.  I mean really old old-timers.  One of them invited us in.  Seems the old ones had given up this particular classroom to the college-agers in a move to make better use of space.  They were dedicating the room to some old guy they had a portrait of in the corner, and formally handing over the “keys to this particular kingdom.”  Interesting approach to re-allocating space to better promote growth.  But it was sure working for them.  We almost stuck around for some pancakes, but I was sure we could find donuts somewhere.  We trudged up the stairs and made our way down yet another hall.  No donuts anywhere in sight.  Defeated, we made our way back to the class that Christi recommended. 

The couple doing the teaching had apparently been asked to fill in for one of the regular teachers.  Well, I guess that would be filling in for six of the regular teachers?  They seem to have had a rotation system of some kind going, and all of the regular ones were going to be out of town.  Except they weren’t.  They were all there.  And that made the sub feel a little intimidated.  And then they found out who we were.  The pastor’s Dad, who was also a pastor.  More intimidation.  And then they introduced the visitors.  One of them was a very nice guy from Tennessee.  And he shared the remarkable coincidence about the Sunday School literature the class was using.  He was the publisher.  The subs almost got up and walked out.  They did a great job, though. 

The worship service was … big.  They have a big, Baptist flavored, God-style auditorium with a balcony.  The stage was large enough to hold a grand piano, a full choir, encased drum set and a full contingent of percussion instruments, and most of an orchestra.  The brass section sat in the overflow area, which was on the floor of the auditorium in front of the stage.  And there was still plenty of room for the kids choir to file in and stand on the steps for their special song.  I’m not sure how many people they had in there, but it was a lot. 

When the music began I literally had to turn my hearing aids down a notch.  The sound was big, too.  They even used hymnals for several of the songs.  I can’t remember the last time I used one of those.  We couldn’t find Christi and the boys, but we did locate Cary and Kay Lynn, some really close friends from Arlington.  They had driven in for the afternoon’s activities.  They were sitting next to the guy who used to be pastor at South Oaks.  He just retired from there and started working for the state convention, so he was in town for that.  And before we started, Cary and Kay Lynn’s youngest son Corbin walked in.  He was the guy most famous for calling us a few weeks ago and giving us about two hours lead time before he descended upon us with three of his friends.  They had been camping and were rained out and needed a place to crash so their weekend would be a total disaster.  I think the jury is still out on the disaster part.  Christi and the boys did finally get there, but the show started on the road and we still hadn’t seen Pastor Josh anywhere.  I suggested to Corbin that he keep his eyes on the ceiling.  Maybe Josh would enter on a zip line from the balcony.  Sadly, he simply strolled in a few minutes late.  Boring entrance. 

The afternoon was incredibly busy.  We all went to a new place for a quick hamburger meal.  Christi described it as a step above “usual fast food.”  I think I’ll agree with her on that one.  The “Steakburgers” were really good.  After wolfing them down we had to rush over to an old Waco estate home that was to be the site of Zak and Caleb’s piano recital.  Actually there were also cellists and a couple of singers and even a violin.  A few local music teachers had pooled their talent base and put the recital on together.  Of course the Vaughan boys were fabulous.  It was Caleb’s first recital ever, and he handled it with the grace of a James Bond.  Zak was a level or two more advanced, so he had to play one song alone and one with his teacher.  Nice job, both of you Vaughans.

After the recital there was no rest for the weary.  We had to hurry back to the church for the boys to take part in a kid’s choir presentation.  Once again, they both did a great job, as expected.  Before they went on stage Zak told Christi that he was just about “musicked out” for the day.  Sadly, he had forgotten that he still faced another rehearsal after the concert.   He is also playing piano in the church Christmas pageant.  Poor Zak.  It’s tough to be so talented. 

We finally made it back home and munched on some cheese dip for supper.  Josh had his fourth or fifth meeting of the day (I lost count), so he was a little later getting home.  I’m praying he gets some rest soon.  This being a pastor of a large church is not an easy job, and he has been through some tough times of late.

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Father, be with Josh as he leads this church through some more difficult times and decisions.  Amen.